Firefighters use controlled burns, but perhaps we need to give up control and let God burn uncontrollably in church meetings. Unfortunately church services are often run by firefighters who hose down and either quench or contain Gods’ fire! Although church has often trained us to put out fires spiritual fire, Jesus wants us to get fired up!

To meet & let the Holy Spirit lead (instead of a human) releases God’s fire! Those Spirit-led worship meetings (the Greek NT “ekklesia”) produce on fire, Spirit-led people. (Learn more @ this link.)

To have the kind of fire that the first Christ-followers had, we need to adhere to their writings. To disregard the Bible is to depart from “the faith once delivered unto the saints.”

If we don’t learn to let God’s fire burn freely in church, where will we? To live in victory, continually saturate yourself with the Bible & the Spirit’s fire!

I love to see God’s fire flow out through ordinary people! Hearing a teaching or sermon about Jesus isn’t the same as actually experiencing His fire. Religious information is not enough — we desperately need God’s fire! Beyond sanctimony & ceremony Jesus has released a fire that many never see.

Paul wrote letters to small groups of Christ-followers — epistles to ekklesias. Let those letters burn in your heart as love letters from God!

Lukewarm Christianity isn’t what God wants. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord?” –Jeremiah

Is “Fire” the ignored word on The Salvation Army Flag? We desperately need the fire of God raging in our heart! William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, put it this way: –“Send the fire! To burn up every trace of sin, To bring the light and glory in, The revolution now begin, Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!”

“His word is in my heart like a fire, shut up in my bones, I am weary of holding it in.” –Jeremiah

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” –John the Baptist speaking of Jesus

“Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” –1 Thessalonians 5:19 ISV

“Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain that I can’t control.” –from a Will Reagan song

“If you know a church on fire for God, tell me and I’ll go.” –Leonard Ravenhill. I wish Leonard Ravenhill could have visited The Salvation Army Berry Street — 225 Berry St., Nashville 37207 on Sundays at 10:45 am.